Well, not really. Khorne is not exactly a million miles from Hashut, but this army is kind of “out of the blue” in another way anyway. See, I always wondered what the definition of “veteran gamer” was, but now I think I may have figured it out: I was always amazed by an old Mike Walker article in White Dwarf in which he claimed to have raided his bitz box for beastmen and managed to amass 3,000 points worth as a result. How can you just have a 3,000 point army sitting in your bitz box?

Now I think I know how he feels. I haven’t quite gotten that far yet, but this is decent 1,000+ point force, built entirely from bitz box contents. The story is that, not too long after the original multi-part Chaos Warriors came out, I decided I wanted an army of them, so I went and bought them (well, my Dad bought them for me...) all in one go. As I’m sure we all know, that’s the death-knell for any force right there: you can never paint up models when you have a whole army resplendent in grey and silver staring you in the face.

So they waited...and waited...and waited...

Now, nine years later (!) they’ve realised their destiny. I give you...

The Destroyer Cult

When the massive Khornate warband of Haargroth the Blooded One was scattered after the Storm of Chaos, many splinter warbands were unleashed upon The Empire. One of these would eventually become known as the Destroyer Cult, and it briefly cut a swathe across the southern Empire as it made a direct route for the Grey Mountains, and the land of Bretonnia beyond. The reasons for this remain a mystery.

Xavier Fureur, Exalted Champion of Khorne

Xavier Fureur’s tale is a long and bloody one. He was once a knight of Bretonnia some five centuries before the present day, and a bloodthirsty and arrogant hunter of Orcs and other foul beasts in his domain. He was renowned for his short temper and lust for battle, which was not a problem until, having rid his domain of invaders, he turned his attention to tourneys. Xavier was disgraced when, in the Mêlée event, he managed to kill three other knights in a wanton display of savagery. Stripped of his lands and title, he went into exile, become a robber knight on the highways of The Empire. Eventually he found his way to the cursed ruins of Mordheim where he found employment amongst the warbands that scoured the City of the Damned as a mercenary. He delved deeper and deeper into the city, searching for stronger opponents and bloodier battles, until he was foolish enough to challenge the Shadowlord himself – Xavier, mighty as he was by this time, was easily defeated and cast into the streets to be picked apart by the Possessed. However, as the shambling monstrosities surrounded him, Xavier did not feel fear or regret, but only unreasoning rage – his shattered body could not stand up to fight, and this filled him with incredible fury, for he longed only to fight and slay. His roars of rage were ignored by his attackers, but they were heard by one entity, deep in the Realm of Chaos: Khorne, the Blood God. He offered Xavier the opportunity to fight endless battles, if he would only do it in His name, and the former knight readily agreed. From that day forth, he served Khorne, taking skulls for the skull throne first across the Old World, and then north, into the Chaos Wastes. He joined the armies of Archaon during the Storm of Chaos, but was forced to flee when they were defeated. Xavier took this opportunity to return to Bretonnia, intent on settling old scores...

Forgive the preamble, but I just got carried away thinking about this guy’s backstory. I wanted to tie him into my other armies and models as much as I could. More will come as he fights battles and perhaps meets the Black Host of Lord Zhurduz... For now, he’s just an Exalted Champion on a Deamonic Mount with the Mark, Collar and Axe of Khorne. The Khlassic Khorne Khombination, as I like to think of it. The model is simply the old Chaos Lord model with his arm replaced by an old Chaos Knight’s lance arm, which has then had the hand removed and replaced with the axe-hand of a Heresy miniatures demon (which may also make an appearance in this army somewhere down the line).

Tharris the Thrice-Cursed

Tharris was once one of the Burgomeisters of Mordheim, but he turned his back on his people when the comet hit and became the Magister of a Possessed warband. He survived, his life sustained by unnatural Chaos magic, for several hundred years, but fled the city before Magnus the Pious destroyed it after the Great War against Chaos. Centuries later, Tharris emerged again, this time aiding the followers of the Dark Master on Albion, again fleeing when they were defeated, and finally siding with the daemon legions of Be’lakor in the Storm of Chaos. Tharris has therefore served the mighty daemon prince on three separate occasions, hence his title. After the Storm of Chaos, Xavier came across Tharris nearly dead in a ditch. He recognised him from his battles in Mordheim as one of his ancient enemies, and so it amused him to offer the Sorcerer the chance to keep his life if he served him. Tharris is little more than a slave in Xavier’s retinue, but it is better than the brutal death he would doubtless receive if he was left to the men of The Empire. Tharris constantly plots his return to grace at the side of his master, Be’lakor.

Including a wizard isn’t exactly Khosher, but I need some magical protection, don’t I? For this reason, Tharris’s standard equipment is two dispel scrolls. He will use Shadow magic, as befits a former servant of Be’lakor, the Master of Shadows.

The Furious

The Furious are led into battle by Krond, a legendary Champion of Khorne in the Chaos Wastes, but who has never ventured south and so has done little to impress the Lord of Battles over the centuries. Xavier has offered him the chance to take the skulls of non-Chaos worshippers and Krond reluctantly agreed (once it was all explained to him in words of one syllable).

Ten Chaos Warriors. Full command. Mark of Khorne. War Banner. Doesn’t get much simpler than that. You can see on the bases that the 25mm size has given me the chance to do cooler stuff with the lava, and it all links up to form little rivers and pools. This also helps me remember where each model goes in the unit, as these old figures are a real bitch to rank up. The standard is Hellcannon parts and a Chaos Knight lance (since they can’t have those anymore).

The Hateful

Lorr leads this bloodthirsty unit armed with deadly halberds.

Not much to say about this unit – ten more Warriors, this time with Halberds.

The Enraged

The Enraged are Xavier’s personal retinue, led by Hund, a mighty Champion. They are the Chosen of Khorne, and carry the Banner of Wrath which crackles with infernal energy.

Yeah, no messing around here. Chosen Knights of Khorne – I believe in specialisation: if you want a knife, you buy the sharpest. If you want a couch, you buy the comfiest. If you want Knights of Chaos, you give ‘em the Mark of Khorne and make ‘em Chosen. Four attacks and 1+ Armour Save? Yes please.

Serial Writist - lots and lots of short fiction, written by me, regularly updated.

Fortunately, you don't have to think too hard about that kind of thing when you paint a Khornate force. It's red and brass, and anything else not black or bone-coloured is green. Very simple, and I figured out a really easy technique for painting them early on, so I raced through these guys.

Serial Writist - lots and lots of short fiction, written by me, regularly updated.

DAMN YOU! I WANT THE OLD PLASTIC WARRIORS! Curse you Still, I guess you did a good enough job of them. I'm curious as to what happened to the other four models though? It looks incredible and the fluff is the best bit of all. If it weren't for the fluff of the sorcerer, I'd say drop him (apart from wanting to use a really nice model) because most of your army has or can have magic resistance anyway... If I remember rightly, doesn;t each unit suffer from frenzy and have MR(1) or add a dispel dice?

Still, good work. How are you planning to fill the army out, since you can;t get the same style models any more?

If I remember rightly, doesn;t each unit suffer from frenzy and have MR(1) or add a dispel dice?

Ah, not in the new Chaos Warrior list, no. It's just Frenzy now. Xavier gets MR 3 (or maybe 2) from his Khollar of Khorne, but that's it I think.

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I'm curious as to what happened to the other four models though?

You have a good memory - yes, there should be 12 in each unit. Two of the missing Warriors can be seen (minus knees) in my Chaos Dwarf army as one of my Sorcerers and my BSB. One more was used for another unrelated project a couple of years ago and, since a certain amount of butchery has been committed on these models over the years (witness the missing horns and shields here and there), the fourth model is essentially "left overs" - he's the various broken legs and arms that are the detritus of the other models when they were reconstructed for this army.

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Still, good work. How are you planning to fill the army out, since you can;t get the same style models any more?

I'll probably add a unit of Marauders instead. They'll be 18 models strong with the addition of this aweome model from Syglass Minatures as the Champion and one extra random mutant guy I have. With the addition of the Daemon Prince (the "Destroyer" after whom the cult is named - I didn't include that part of the story yet) and a Hellcannon borrowed from Lord Zhurduz, the army will be 2,000 points.

Serial Writist - lots and lots of short fiction, written by me, regularly updated.

Ah, gotcha. It's mostly because I'm still thinking of the HoC list (which is, personally, what I would use).

Good to hear most of the missing members were put to good use Shame about the mangled man...

Nice model, curious if you'll include his cricular sculpted base or not. I remember marauders originally being 12 models in a box too. MAJORLY annoying as it means I've got 8 less than I would've had Still, I need to update my current ones and an extra 8 per unit wouldn't be a bad thing as they are fodder...

It's mostly because I'm still thinking of the HoC list (which is, personally, what I would use)

Oddly, it was reading the new list that made me want to finally get these guys sorted out. They suddenly felt like a new army, and I was inspired. I may be the only person in the world who actually read that new list and wanted to do anything but shelve his models...

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Nice model, curious if you'll include his cricular sculpted base or not.

No, I asked Steve (the sculptor) and he says it's a separate piece, so he'll just go on a square base. Even so, he should be much taller than his friends, so he'll need a nice backstory to go with him.

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I remember marauders originally being 12 models in a box too. MAJORLY annoying as it means I've got 8 less than I would've had

It's 16 to a box according to the GW website, but they could have repackaged them or something.

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you should do a wip on the painting lava bases please

Someone PM'd me a while ago asking the same thing and I obliged (though I don't think I explained it very well). If others are interested enough, I wouldn't be averse to doing a photo tutorial sometime.

Serial Writist - lots and lots of short fiction, written by me, regularly updated.

Bit of an oddball update this. I was checking out the new Warriors of Chaos rumours on Warseer and saw the new unit they have available - the Warshrine. Someone managed to get a scan of the book so we could all see its rules and artwork. To summarise, it gives interesting bonuses to the "Eye of the Gods" special rule and just functions like a monster on a chariot base and all the Attacks and Wounds of its escorts, steeds, etc. are rolled into one profile. Pretty handy, because it gives free rein to interpret it as you want.

That said, I didn't actually stray too far from the brief in this scratch built model. I give you... Khorne's Khonvertible:

Havok Skullkeeper is one of the comparatively rare Skull-Priests of Khorne. Since most worshippers of the Blood God do their praying on the battlefield with axe and sword, it's fairly unusual to see a temple dedicated to Him and even more unusual to have it maintained by any kind of priesthood. Nonetheless, in some dark corners of the Chaos Wastes, there are mighty brass fortresses where dark rituals are performed in the name of Khorne. The Master of Skulls despises magic, of course, so these rituals are limited to bloody sacrifice, however His servants - Bloodletters, Flesh Hounds and the awesome Bloodthirster - still require magic, the stuff of Chaos, to survive, and so it is in this sphere that the Skull-Priests specialise. They summon the footsoldiers of Khorne to the battlefield and visit upon His mortal followers the monstrous mutations that Khorne most especially delights in: ravening maws, scything claws and rune-encrusted weaponry.

Sometimes, the Skull-Priests ride to war with Khornate retinues and, for them, a campaign of merciless destruction is like a holy pilgrimage. When they go to war, Skull-Priests do so atop brass altars to the Blood Good, pulled by elite Chaos Warriors or driven by daemonic engines. The skulls of the slain are heaped atop the shrine so that the power of Khorne will wax strongly and provide them with mighty gifts.

This was a really easy model to build. The base and the chassis are simply pieces of modular movement tray. I attached some spare Hellcannon wheels to it (you may have seen that my counts-as Earthshaker doesn't use all the wheels) and used the Hellcannon maw for the front of the altar. The Chaos Star is a Hellcannon hubcap and most of the skulls and various parts come from the Hellcannon too. The poles at the back are just kebab skewers and the torches are made from the ubiquitous Thunderer bucklers with 40K Ork top-knots in them for the fire. The spikes along the side are Goblin wolf rider spears. The main interesting thing though is the models. They're from Heroquest, the GW/MB board game from the late 80s. Great figures, but I don't want to rule out playing Heroquest with them, so they aren't glued on. That presented some problems, because I didn't think the two guys on the Shrine would look very good with their bases - initially I had the idea of piling trophies (mostly heads) on the shrine and basing them to match, but it looked really bad, so that plan was abandoned. I think it works anyway.

Until the new Warriors of Chaos book comes out, I'll be using this as a chariot with an Aspiring Champion on board.

Here's the Destroyer Cult as it currently stands. Pictured here is Abbadon, my Daemon Prince from Heresy Miniatures:

Serial Writist - lots and lots of short fiction, written by me, regularly updated.

Wow, thanks! I'm quite pleased with it (especially since it was made from stuff I had in my bitz box). What'll happen now is that the Warrior of Chaos book will be released and it'll turn out there's no War Shrine after all.

Serial Writist - lots and lots of short fiction, written by me, regularly updated.

Wow, thanks! I'm quite pleased with it (especially since it was made from stuff I had in my bitz box). What'll happen now is that the Warrior of Chaos book will be released and it'll turn out there's no War Shrine after all.

There are scans for those pages on Warseer, it's in the list for sure.